We Lost Our Country, but …

Posted on 8 January 2021 by jrlclemson

We lost our country. To a leftist coup d’état.

To the mission to bastardly rewrite the plan for us that our forefathers so wisely crafted.

We lost our country. But as my son Jerry A Lambert MD posted yesterday,

In this time of turmoil, chaos, division, and uncertainty — it is easy to be afraid, even terrified. But I know an absolute. He is the Creator of the universe. He and His Word, the Bible, are unwavering. He is not in the least afraid or altered by politics, unrest, uncertainty, violence, lies, hatred, racism or any of the other constructs or raw characteristics of man. He is the ONLY source of peace, security, and comfort in times like these. To learn more about Him read what He says in the book he wrote for you: the Bible. What do you need to do right now that is more important?

We lost our country, but as Ira Forest Stanphill wrote:

Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know Who holds tomorrow,
And I know Who holds my hand.

We lost our country.  But as the traditional African American spiritual goes,

He’s got the rivers and the mountains in his hands,
He’s got the oceans and the seas in his hands,
He’s got you and he’s got me in his hands,
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

As the story is told, Benjamin Franklin was walking out of Independence Hall after the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when a lady shouted out, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?”  To which Franklin responded, with a rejoinder at once witty and ominous: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

In McHenry’s 1803 account, the lady immediately shoots back, “And why not keep it?”  Franklin responds, “Because the people, on tasting the dish, are always disposed to eat more of it than does them good.”

We lost the country, but …

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Urgent Prayer Request From Michele Bachmann!

Posted on 22 November 2020 by jrlclemson

Integral to the survival of this Republic is the integrity of its voting process. People are entitled to the confidence that their votes will not be cancelled by fraudulent votes. While we work to this end in this election, we must petition God. Please consider the following message sent from our friend and former Presidential candidate Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. Eagle Forum

From Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann AND SHARED WITH HER PERMISSION:

In the aftermath of the election, what is going on in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada is nothing short of wicked.

Just tonight Arizona was moved from the “blue” column to the “white” toss-up column. Our prayers are availing much! It is now up to the Body of Christ to step up.

WHAT IF we mobilize a mighty intercessory prayer army to storm the gates of heaven on behalf of the voters of these states? If God has chosen to pronounce judgment on our nation and let it fall under the weight of its own wicked devices, then so be it. I can rest in Him knowing that I left it all on the battlefield.

The prayer strategy is simple. Join us in praying through the prayer petitions below. Then, forward this email to at least 10 friends who are prayerfully concerned about this nation and the integrity of our electoral system. The original distribution was to 20 prayer warriors. In only 6 generations of forwarding this letter, it has the potential to reach 20 million prayer warriors!

20 x 10 = 200200 x 10 = 2,0002,000 x 10 = 20,00020,000 x 10 = 200,000200,000 x 10 = 2,000,0002,000,000 x 10 = 20,000,000. And this is the confidence we have toward Him, that if we seek anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:4)

Will You Join Us in Praying Over these FIVE STRATEGIC PRAYER POINTS and forwarding this email to at least 10 other people who are prayerfully concerned about our nation?

PRAYER POINT ONE: Expose and hold accountable those who practice the seven things God hates and He says are detestable to Him: According to Proverbs 6:16-17, There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
1. haughty eyes 2. a lying tongue 3. hands that shed innocent blood 4. a heart that devises wicked plans 5. feet that are quick to rush into evil 6. a false witness who pours out lies 7. a person who stirs up conflict in the community.  Heavenly Father, we humbly ask that in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada please silence every lying tongue and convict the hearts of those who devise wicked plans intended to invalidate and nullify the expressed will of the voters. Stop those who would be quick to rush into evil. Expose and silence every false witness who utters lies and operates in deceit. Thwart the efforts of every person who attempts to stir conflict within their community.

PRAYER POINT TWO: Expose all wickedness intended to steal, kill and destroy the electoral process in these battleground states. Heavenly Father, we humbly ask that in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada that you “reveal deep and hidden things. You know what lies in darkness. Light dwells with You.” (Daniel 2:22) Please bring to light and expose every lie, deceit, deception, misrepresentation and illegal act intended to “steal, kill and destroy” the electoral process and the expressed will of the citizens and these states. (John 10:10).

PRAYER POINT THREE: Frustrate those who seek to steal, kill, and destroy electoral integrity and authentic, accurate vote counts in these battleground states. Heavenly Father, please, “Frustrate the plotting of the shrewd so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise or attain success.” May no weapon formed intended to steal, kill and destroy the authentic, accurate vote count and expressed will of the people in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada “be allowed to prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17).

PRAYER POINT FOUR:  Frustrate and thwart the plans of those who attempt to sabotage the state’s election laws and subvert the expressed will of the people. Heavenly Father, please “Capture the wise by their own shrewdness and quickly thwart the advice of the cunning” (Job 5:12) whose intention is to sabotage and subvert state and federal election law and the expressed will of the people in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada. “Hold them guilty O LORD, by their own devices let them fall.” (Psalm 5:10)

PRAYER POINT FIVE: Psalm 5 for protection and favor for President Trump. Heavenly Father, please “Give ear to President’ Trump’s words, O LORD, consider President Trump’s groaning. Heed the sound of his cry for help, His King and His God. For to You does he pray. In the morning O LORD, you will hear his voice; in the morning he will order his prayer to you and eagerly watch. For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You. The boastful shall stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. Destroy those who speak falsehood You abhor the man of bloodshed and deceit. But as for President Trump by Your abundant lovingkindness he will enter Your house. At your holy temple he will bow in reverence for you. Lord, please lead President Trump in Your righteousness because of his foes. Make his way straight before him. There is nothing reliable in what they say; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, O God, by their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out for they are rebellious against You. But let President Trump take refuge in You and be glad. Let him ever sing for joy. May you shelter him. May he who loves Your name exult in You. Bless President Trump, O LORD. Surround him with favor as with a shield. “Heavenly Father, please give supernatural wisdom, strength and discernment to the President and his advisors regarding how to navigate the road ahead. In the Mighty Name of Jesus We Pray, Amen.

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Election 2020 and II Chronicles 18-20

Posted on 15 November 2020 by jrlclemson

Jerry A Lambert MD

“Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. (Daniel 2:20-21)

God intervenes in the affairs of men to raise up leaders and to remove others from power.  I believe that not only did He do so in 2016, but He is at work even now regarding the person to be inaugurated as President of the United States of America January 20, 2021.

Evangelical Leaders Gather to Pray for Trump

Please note the Bible study that President Trump’s Cabinet has weekly, led by evangelical ministers and teachers at the President’s request; his asking that evangelical ministers and leaders counsel and advise him, come into the Oval Office and lay hands on and pray for him; his unprecedented support and actions for religious freedom and pro-life principles; and his unwavering support for Israel, God’s chosen people.

Consider the narrative in II Chronicles chapters 18-20 regarding Jehoshaphat. I believe that in many ways this testimony is a type or foreshadowing of President Trump and the 2020 presidential election. Bear with me as I parallel the account.

Let’s start with II Chronicles 18:1: “Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance …”

Before running for the presidency, not only had Donald Trump been a billionaire for decades, he also was greatly admired by many people. Cited in a recent biography, President Obama wrote that many kids want success, to be Donald Trump. When Donald Trump was on Oprah’s show in 1988, years before running for office, Oprah asked him if he would ever run for president, encouraged him to do so, and praised him. In 1998 at a special meeting, Jesse Jackson lauded Donald Trump for hiring a lot of minorities to providing good quality affordable housing for inner-city blacks and other minorities.

And then he ran for and was elected President.

Earlier in Jehoshaphat’s life he made some decisions that were not based on the wisdom of God. Sound familiar? But then, II Chronicles 19:2-3 says,

“And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you. Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.

It is obvious that God has been moving on the heart of Donald Trump for some years now.

Continuing to verses 4-7:

“So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD God of their fathers. Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, ‘Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. Now therefore, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes.

Note that throughout his land, Jehoshaphat set judges who were just, in power throughout all the land! At the time of this writing, in a single term President Trump has appointed 222 of the 792 (28%) federal judges across our land. While he has not used religion as a test, he has selected men and women of character, who have demonstrated decision making using Godly principles. A rare accomplishment for a president, in a single term President Trump has also appointed an astonishing three associate justices to the Supreme Court, each of which have been God-fearing individuals of strong character.

Now let’s look at chapter 20:14:

“Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel. … And he said, ‘Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. … Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.

In that time, God moved on a man named Jahaziel to give a word from God. Currently, several Christian men and women have prophesied, proclaiming that God has given them a word, a word that President Trump is currently going out against a great multitude, a multitude of manipulators of our election system, some state governors, the media, Democrats, and the celebrities of Hollywood. The members of this multitude severely ridicule God and His people and seek to minimize the worship of God, even banning such during the COVID-19 pandemic. That “word” from current day prophets continues that Trump and his people should “go down against them” but that the battle is the Lord’s; that we should “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you.”

While the post-election battle is going on, what should we as Christians do? Should we take up arms and fight, destroy cities, burn down and loot businesses?

“And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high.” 20:18-19

Of course, that’s what we should do: worship God, praising Him with loud voices. Regardless of the outcome of this election we are to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you.”

“So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.’ And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: ‘Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever. II Chronicles 20:20-21

Don’t miss the scripture location! Here in the year 2020 note verse 20:20: “Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” Through all the turmoil, uncertainty, fear and worry of 2020 and this presidential election with its implications on the future of our nation, God exhorts us to believe in him and his prophets and we will prosper. What are his prophets saying? Many Christian prophets continue to say, even after Election Day, that Trump will win the 2020 presidential election and will continue working to fight religious persecution, continue to be a true friend to Israel, to fight the life and health of all Americans, including the unborn, and to appoint even more just men and women to judicial positions.

The intrigue deepens:

“Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. II Chronicles 20:22-23

Note that when God’s people began to sing and praise God, He set out to destroy their enemies, to fight the battle for them against their enemies. Have you noticed what is happening to the Democratic Party and the enemies of President Trump? The more moderate Democrats are blaming their lackluster performance in this election on the progressives and those more liberal, while those people are blaming the moderates. There is already significant infighting among those opposing Trump, and I believe that will escalate markedly in the coming weeks and months.

“So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped. II Chronicles 20:24

Political “dead bodies” have already fallen in from this battle, this election. And there may be more yet to come. While conventional wisdom was that the Democrats would enjoy a “Blue Wave,” taking many Congressional seats from the Republicans, instead many Democrats—including some prominent incumbents—have lost their power, their political position, possibly ending their political life.

“When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the LORD; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the LORD. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. II Chronicles 20:25-29

Jehoshaphat went on to continue as king for years after this battle was won.

What if this happens regarding the US presidential election? What if, against seemingly insurmountable odds, after Biden has been anointed president elect, the election is decided for Donald Trump? What if on January 20, 2021 it is Donald Trump that is inaugurated President of the United States of America?

After such an event, the US economy may soar even higher than the record-setting levels present at the beginning of 2020. There may be an abundance of “spoils” that follow this contentious election.

As you probably know, the entire world is watching this election and its outcome very closely. Much has been said about the comments of world leaders about the alleged “President-Elect” Biden.

What if it’s not Biden?  What if God intervenes, fights the battle for Jehoshaphat and His people, and Trump continues to serve as President for four more years?  The whole world would take note.  Several current prophets have gone on record saying—contrary to what has been said by the pollsters and pundits and election officials and state governors—that Trump would still win this “battle.” These prophets give all credit and glory to God as the sole source of their word of prophecy. What if it came true? “And the fear of God [would be] on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of [God’s people].

What a powerful testimony that would be of God’s power and might!

We will see.

Meanwhile, let’s join together, worship and praise God, and “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with [us].

Jerry A Lambert MD is a Primary Care Physician who practices in North Augusta SC.  He is the son of Jerry R Lambert, editor of JawingJerry.
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On Yom Kippur

Posted on 26 September 2020 by jrlclemson

One of the Biblical instructions that most of the world ignores is the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur in Hebrew.  (We don’t ignore the instruction condemning murder; why should we ignore the statute regarding atonement?)

29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month [Tishrei 10, 5781; 28 September 2020], you shall humble yourselves, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger [resident alien] who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall humble your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the LORD commanded Moses. Leviticus 16:29

Whether we be Jewish or simply desire to follow God’s instructions, humbling ourselves, fasting and atoning on Tishrei 10, Yom Kippur, are part of following His words.

“In ancient times Yom Kippur was celebrated in the form of a massive public ceremony set in the Temple in Jerusalem. The holiest man in Israel, the High Priest, entered the most sacred space, the Holy of Holies, confessed the sins of the nation using God’s holiest name, and secured atonement for all Israel.”  With the destruction of the Temple came no Yom Kippur ritual through which the people could find forgiveness.  But the sages transformed the spirit of the day into a liturgy of prayers by which “ordinary Jews could, as it were, come face to face with the Shechinah, the Divine presence. They needed no one else to apologize for them. The drama that once took place in the Temple could now take place in the human heart.” (tinyurl.com/yyhmzabp)

Abounding commentary has been written over the centuries encouraging personal action enabled by atonement, not limited to Yom Kippur but related to its theme.  Among modern relating writers Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948- ), Chief Rabbi Emeritus of the Commonwealth after 22-years, is the creme de la creme.  He put together thoughts on Yom Kippur as a guide to making it personal, at https://tinyurl.com/yyhmzabp.

I excerpt below a few paragraphs from Rabbi’s writing on Yom Kippur that I find heartening.  Please enjoy.  Jerry

“The single most important lesson of Yom Kippur is that it’s never too late to  change, start again, and live differently from the way we’ve done in the past. God forgives every mistake we’ve made as long as we are honest in regretting it and doing our best to put it right. Even if there’s nothing we regret, Yom Kippur makes us think about how to use the coming year in such a way as to bring blessings into the lives of others by way of thanking God for all He has given us.

“To those who fully open themselves to it, Yom Kippur is a life-transforming experience.  It tells us that God, who created the universe in love and forgiveness, reaches out to us in love and forgiveness, asking us to love and forgive others. God never asked us not to make mistakes. [Emphasis mine: JRL] All He asks is that we acknowledge our mistakes, learn from them, grow through them and make amends where we can.  No religion has held such a high view of human possibility.  The God who created us in His image gave us freedom. We are not tainted by original sin, destined to fail, caught in the grip of an evil only Divine grace can defeat.  To the contrary, we have within us the power to choose life. Together we have the power to change the world.

“Blaming others for our failings is as old as humanity, but it is disastrous. It means that we define ourselves as victims. A culture of victimhood wins the compassion of others but at too high a cost. It incubates feelings of resentment, humiliation, grievance and grudge. It leads people to rage against the world instead of taking steps to mend it.  Jews have suffered much, but Yom Kippur prevents us from ever defining ourselves as victims. As we confess our sins, we blame no one and take full responsibility for our actions. Knowing God will forgive us allows us to be completely honest with ourselves.

“Yom Kippur also allows us to grow. We owe a debt to cognitive behavioral therapy for reminding us of a classic element of Jewish faith: that when we change the way we think, we change the way we feel. And when we feel differently, we live differently. [Emphasis mine: JRL] What we believe shapes what we become.

“At the heart of teshuvah [Hebrew: return, often translated as repentance] is the belief that we can change. We are not destined to be forever what we were. In the Torah we see Yehudah [Judah] grow, from an envious brother prepared to sell Yosef [Joseph] as a slave, to a man with the conscience and courage to offer himself as a slave so that his brother Binyamin [Benjamin] can go free.

“We know that some people relish a challenge and take risks, while others, no less gifted, play it safe and ultimately underachieve. Psychologists tell us that the crucial difference lies in whether you think of your ability as fixed or as something developed through effort and experience. Teshuvah is essentially about effort and experience. It assumes we can grow.

“Teshuvah means I can take risks, knowing that I may fail but knowing that failure is not final.  It means that if I get things wrong and make mistakes, God does not lose faith in me even though I may lose faith in myself. God believes in us, even if we do not. [Emphasis mine: JRL] That alone is a life-changing fact if we fully open ourselves to its implications. Teshuvah means that the past is not irredeemable. It means that from every mistake, I grow.  There is no failure I experience that does not make me a deeper human being; no challenge I accept, however much I fall short, that does not develop in me strengths I would not otherwise have had.

“That is the first transformation of Yom Kippur: a renewed relationship with myself.

“The third transformation is a renewed relationship with God. On Yom Kippur, God is close.  … We encounter God in three ways: through creation, revelation and redemption.

“The more we understand of cosmology, the more we realize how improbable the universe is. The universe is too finely tuned for the emergence of stars, planets and life to have come into existence by chance. The more we understand of the sheer improbability of the existence of the universe, the emergence of life from inanimate matter, and the equally mysterious appearance of Homo sapiens, the only life-form capable of asking the question “Why?”, the more the line rings true: “How numerous are Your works, Lord;
You made them all in wisdom” (Psalm 104:24).

“Yom Kippur invites us to become better than we were, in the knowledge that we can be better than we are. That knowledge comes from God. If we are only self-made, we live within the prison of our own limitations. The truly great human beings are those who have opened themselves to the inspiration of something greater than themselves.

Yom Kippur “is a day not just of confession and forgiveness but of a profound liberation. Atonement means that we can begin again. We are not held captive by the past or by our failures. [Emphasis mine: JRL] The Book of Life is open and God invites us – His hand guiding us the way a scribe guides the hand of those who write a letter in a Torah scroll – to write a new chapter in the story of our people, a chapter uniquely our own yet one that we cannot write on our own without being open to something vaster than we will ever fully understand. It is a day on which God invites us to greatness.

[Your comments are welcome.]

Posted in Culture, Israel, Justice, Life, Quotes, Truth, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Conclusions Based on Facts, not Mobs

Posted on 25 September 2020 by jrlclemson

These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates.  And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all those are things that I hate—declares the LORD.  Zechariah 8:16

Breonna Taylor: Yet another grand jury defies the Fake News narrative

While the Democrats scream “systemic racism,” and their mobs yell “No Justice, No peace!” they meet their worst nightmare: Justice.

Rabbi Dov Fisher

Again.

America has a nationwide Fake News syndicate who blow stories out of proportion and shamelessly distort facts to incite civil unrest and racial disharmony. (Emphasis mine: JRL) A Black person dies at the hands of a police officer, whether White or Black, and the media narrative promptly becomes a lamentation over “systemic racism.”

The streets fill with peaceful protesters. Soon, they are shoved aside by agitators, inciters, anarchists, and some paid provocateurs. Fires are set. Businesses are burned down. Homes are destroyed. Lives are ruined. In the background, the chants are heard: “No Justice, No Peace.”

In time a grand jury is convened. The rules of a grand jury are not like those of a regular court room. Only the prosecutor is allowed to put on a case. No defense attorney is allowed in the room. One witness after another is brought in and grilled by the prosecutor in front of the jury. There is no judge to protect the witness from being abused. The witness has nowhere to turn for legal assistance. The prosecutor pummels him or her with tough questions, sometimes insults and nasty remarks. The only brakes that prevent even worse abuse is that the experienced prosecutor knows the limits, that if he or she gets too vicious then the grand jury may shift its sympathies to the battered witness.

So the prosecutor plays the grand jury, using tricks of the trade, ploys and psychological maneuvers that never would be allowed in open court. But, again, there is no judge in the room to rein in the prosecutor. As day after day ensues, the prosecutor becomes increasingly chummy with the members of the grand jury. This is why it is said that any competent prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict even a ham sandwich.

And yet, despite all the media-stirred public frenzy about “systemic racism,” grand juries and fact-finders in open courtrooms continue to come back with verdicts that completely defy the Fake News narratives. The Fake News convinced many that George Zimmerman was a White Supremacist who murdered a sweet clean-cut teen boy, a darling with a hoodie in Florida. NBC news doctored a recording that Zimmerman had phoned into the police, omitting key words to make his innocent and desperate call seem like a racist one.

But in the end, George Zimmerman was not charged with a crime for standing his ground when, as a Neighborhood Watch volunteer, he had acted in good faith and was in peril of getting pummeled to death himself by Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman even turned out to be Hispanic.

The media stirred a frenzy in Ferguson. Poor innocent Michael Brown had raised his arms to the skies, pleading to the bloodthirsty cop facing him: “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” But the murderous policeman shot him to death in cold blood anyway.

Soon enough, after Ferguson was burned down, a grand jury was convened. The conviction was a certainty, easier than a ham sandwich. The only obstacle was that witnesses came in to testify, and facts were presented. It turned out that Michael Brown was not a darling sweety pie but a thug who had held up a convenience store. In his encounter with officer Darren Wilson, Michael Brown did not raise his arms and say “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” Rather, he wrestled the policeman for his gun. The officer understood that, if Brown managed to gain control of that pistol, he would murder the cop. The officer secured his weapon, and Brown was shot to death. The grand jury refused to indict.

Freddie Gray in Baltimore was another. The Fake News propounded the narrative that a murderous gang of Baltimore cops had murdered Gray in a police van. Baltimore burned. Men and women lost their life savings as the storefront businesses into which they had invested everything to support their families went up in smoke. Their hopes, their dreams, their decades of goodwill in the community — all up in smoke.

The policemen were put on trial, tried before a Black judge. With the narrative the Fake News had propagated, and a Black judge staring down from his bench at each of the accused, they all were goners. And yet each and every officer was found not guilty. Every single one.

This has been the repeated result of the Fake News syndicate’s efforts to stir hatred within American society. While the Democrats scream of “systemic racism,” and while their leftist mobs in the streets yell “No Justice, No peace!” they encounter their worst nightmare: Justice.

And now Breonna Taylor. The Fake News had us all stirred and ready for three death sentences to emerge from the fact finding. Three cops, all intent on systemically racially killing Black people at whim. Only the facts got in the way once again.

To be sure, the whole thing was a massive human tragedy. The Louisville police thought they had a beat on drugs to be found, so they got that “no knock warrant.” Three cops were assigned to execute the warrant and carry out the drug bust. They entered — maybe without knocking, although there is at least one witness who testifies that the cops did announce themselves upon entering.

Kenneth Walker, Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, was there, had a legally registered gun, and did what many others in that situation might have done: he fired on the home intruders. Did he know they were cops? Maybe, but very probably not. It is totally believable that any owner of a legal firearm innocently would shoot his gun at intruders. Even if he saw them in uniform, even if they said they were police, they were not expected. People expect the cops to knock first and to show a warrant.

One cannot blame Walker, the boyfriend, for shooting the invaders. One of his bullets actually penetrated an artery in an officer’s thigh. Yet, just as the boyfriend cannot be blamed for what he did, the cops cannot be blamed for shooting back. It was just a horrible, horrible botch-up. So they shot back and ended up killing Breonna Taylor, an innocent bystander in her own home. She was struck by six bullets, including the fatal one that officer Myles Cosgrove discharged. And that was what the grand jury learned, outside the ambit of the Fake News media.

The cops executed their warrant and never found any drugs. The boyfriend shot at men invading the premises without their manifesting clear reason to be breaking in. The cops shot back at a guy shooting at them. Horrible. Tragic. But not at all racial. It was just a horrible, horrible thing.

The grand jury did not indict anyone for Breonna Taylor’s shooting, but the City of Louisville agreed to pay her family $12 million and to adopt new police reforms so that this awful tragedy never recurs. As a sidebar to it all, the grand jury learned that one of the cops, Brett Hankison, apparently may have started firing wildly, even into a nearby apartment, perhaps demonstrating reckless indifference to surrounding human lives. Therefore, the jury indicted him on three counts of “wanton endangerment,” a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. But the grand jury rejected any claim of murder or lesser-intent homicide arising from Breonna Taylor’s tragic death.

It was not a moment of “systemic racism” — because it never is. There is no systemic racism in America. If there were, the United States would not have had a Black president — an incompetent at that — for eight recent years. America would not now have a Black woman, descending from parents born in Jamaica and India, running on a major party’s ticket for Vice President. Which country in Europe has had Black heads of government, Black U.N. representatives, Black foreign ministers, Black national security advisors as we have — England? France? Italy? Germany? Spain? Russia? Does anyone hold any office or position in China other than people who are ethnically Chinese?

Americans are a good people. When Americans elected Obama in 2008, the country put an end to the stain of slavery and closed that shameful chapter in American history. But Obama reopened it. He and the Democrats brazenly played the “race card” for political benefit and in ruthless pursuit of power. They began a decade of “gaslighting” Americans into thinking that, well, maybe we are systemically racist. In 2016 Hillary Clinton raised the lie to an art form by lumping a litany of “isms” into one basketful of false charges: “They’re racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic – you name it.”

Balderdash. It is a Big Lie. Americans are not any of the above. And now this Breonna Taylor grand jury, primed and ready to indict even a ham sandwich, could find no grounds, once presented with facts, to support the Fake News narrative that attempted to stir racial hatred among us by concocting the lie that this horrible human tragedy was something different from what it was — a horrible human tragedy.

Now they will proceed to search the land and scour the countryside for their next opportunity to incite hatred among the citizenry so that, in the words [Read them: JRL] of CNN’s Don Lemon, “We’re gonna have to blow up the entire system.”

Put away your matches, Don. It’ll have to wait till next time.

Rabbi Prof. Dov Fischer is adjunct professor of law at two prominent Southern California law schools.
Posted in Culture, Government, Justice, Life, Truth | Leave a comment

John Wayne Comments on “Today”

Posted on 31 August 2020 by jrlclemson

In May 1971, Playboy magazine published an interview with John Wayne, where he responded to questions about socialism and welfare recipients among a gaggle of other subjects relative to 2020:

“I know all about that.  In the late Twenties, when I was a sophomore at USC, I was a socialist myself—but not when I left.  The average college kid idealistically wishes everybody could have ice cream and cake for every meal. But as he gets older and gives more thought to his and his fellow man’s responsibilities, he finds that it can’t work out that way—that some people just won’t carry their load.

“I believe in welfare—a welfare work program.  I don’t think a fella should be able to sit on his backside and receive welfare.  I’d like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.  I’d like to know why they make excuses for cowards who spit in the faces of the police and then run behind the judicial sob sisters.  I can’t understand these people who carry placards to save the life of some criminal, yet have no thought for the innocent victim.

See https://tinyurl.com/kl9x6jy for a transcript of the full interview, as appropriate today as it was in 1971, and in 1871 for that matter.

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The Horse and the Hunter

Posted on 31 August 2020 by jrlclemson

The Horse and the Hunter

Preamble: When I read of university faculty allowing students to establish curricula and rules of conduct, I shudder for our future.  When I read of city mayors ordering police to stand down, and that the precinct be evacuated “to avoid hand-to-hand combat” with rioters who later stormed the building and set it on fire, I marvel at such weakness.  When I read of CEOs who dictate cessation of longstanding tradition because of one complaint, I shake my head. When I learn that a university engineering department eliminates the GRE as a requirement of graduate school because it “is biased against women and minorities,” I weep for my profession.  When I hear looters justify their theft because “people should be allowed to loot stores because they’re already insured,” I stand amazed at the irrationality and immorality that has gripped this nation.  When I observe thugs, officials, and CEOs refusing to take the slightest responsibility for their actions, I wonder where we are headed.  The current pandemic of emasculation is life threatening.

An Aesop Fable

A quarrel had arisen between the Horse and the Stag over grazing rights in a pasture, so the Horse came to a Hunter to ask his help to take revenge on the Stag. The Hunter agreed, but with the caveat: “If you desire me to help you defeat the Stag, you must permit me to place this piece of iron between your jaws, so that I may guide you with these reins.  The Horse agreed.  The Hunter added, “You must allow this saddle to be placed upon your back so that I may keep steady upon you as we run through the forest,” to which the Horse also nodded.

The Horse agreed to the conditions, and the Hunter soon saddled and bridled him.  Then with the aid of the Hunter the Horse soon overcame the Stag, and said to the Hunter: “Now, get off, and remove those things from my mouth and get that thing off my back.

“Not so fast, friend,” said the Hunter.  “I now have you under bit and spur, and prefer to keep you at my command.

The Lesson

This event has played out in our country today.  The Hunter — the anarchists, home grown terrorists, seditionists of today — has bit and spur on The Horse — our government officials and CEOs whose gonads have withered to impotency, though they remain in authority over the heroes who serve, the deplorables who work, the thinkers who lead.  The Hunter fails to appreciate the Horse for having built this country, for being who he is, for how he has carried his load and accomplished much. The Hunter thinks only of himself without rationality.  The question is when and how will the Horse throw the Hunter off his back into the mire?

Jerry R Lambert
jlambert@maxxbilt.com
31 August 2020
Posted in Culture, Government, Life | 1 Comment

Fear of Speech is Replacing Freedom of Speech

Posted on 9 August 2020 by jrlclemson

“I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire

By Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe

“FREEDOM OF SPEECH,” the famous Norman Rockwell painting that depicts a young man addressing a local gathering, was inspired by a real event. One evening in 1942, Rockwell attended the town meeting in Arlington, Vt., where he lived for many years. On the agenda was the construction of a new school. It was a popular proposal, supported by everyone in attendance — except for one resident, who got up to express his dissenting view. He was evidently a blue-collar worker, whose battered jacket and stained fingernails set him apart from the other men in the audience, all dressed in white shirts and ties. In Rockwell’s scene, the man speaks his mind, unafraid to express a minority opinion and not intimidated by the status of those he’s challenging. He has no reason not to speak plainly: His words are being attended to with respectful attention. His neighbors may disagree with him, but they’re willing to hear what he has to say.

What brings Rockwell’s painting to mind is a new national poll by the Cato Institute. The survey found that self-censorship has become extremely widespread in American society, with 62 percent of adults saying that, given the current political climate, they are afraid to honestly express their views.

“These fears cross partisan lines,” writes Emily Ekins, Cato’s director of polling. “Majorities of Democrats (52 percent), independents (59 percent), and Republicans (77 percent) all agree they have political opinions they are afraid to share.” The survey’s 2,000 respondents sorted themselves ideologically as “very liberal,” “liberal,” “moderate,” “conservative,” or “very conservative.” In every category except “very liberal,” a majority of respondents feel pressured to keep their views to themselves. Roughly one-third of American adults — 32 percent — fear they could be fired or otherwise penalized at work if their political beliefs became known.

Freedom of speech has often been threatened in America, but the suppression of “wrong” opinions in the past has tended to come from the top down. It was the government that arrested editors for criticizing Woodrow Wilson’s foreign policy, made it a crime to burn the flag, turned the dogs on civil rights marchers, and jailed communists under the Smith Act. Today, by contrast, dissent is rarely prosecuted. Thanks to the Supreme Court’s First Amendment jurisprudence, freedom of expression has never been more strongly protected — legally.

But culturally, the freedom to express unpopular views has never been more endangered.

On college campuses, in workplaces, in the media, there are ever-widening no-go zones of viewpoints and arguments that cannot be safely expressed. Voice an opinion that self-anointed social-justice warriors regard as heretical, and the consequences can be career-destroying. The dean of the nursing school at UMass-Lowell lost her job after writing in an email that “everyone’s life matters.” An art curator was accused of being a racist and forced to quit for saying that his museum would “continue to collect white artists.” The director of communications for Boeing apologized and resigned after an employee complained that 33 years ago he was opposed to women serving in combat.

Virtually everyone would agree that some views are indisputably beyond the pale. If there are supporters of slavery or advocates of genocide who feel inhibited from sharing their beliefs, no one much cares. But the range of opinions deemed unsayable by today’s progressive thought police extends well into the mainstream. And in many cases, the most enthusiastic suppressors of debate are students, journalists, artists, intellectuals — those who in former times were the greatest champions of uninhibited speech and the greatest foes of ideological conformity.

It isn’t only on the left that this totalitarian impulse to silence dissent exists. President Trump, always infuriated by criticism, has called for columnists who disparage him to be fired, hecklers at his rallies to be beaten up, and TV stations to lose their licenses if they run ads vilifying his handling of the pandemic — calls routinely amplified on social media by tens of thousands of his followers. When a Babson College professor joked that Iran ought to bomb “sites of beloved American cultural heritage” like the Mall of America and the Kardashian residence, a right-wing website launched a campaign that got him fired.

The new Cato survey found that more than one in five Americans (22 percent) would support firing a business executive who donated money to Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, while 31 percent would be OK with firing someone who gave money to Trump’s re-election campaign. The urge to ostracize or penalize unwelcome views isn’t restricted to just one end of the spectrum.

Americans’ right to free speech is shielded by the Constitution to a degree unmatched anywhere else. But our First Amendment guarantees will prove impotent if the habit of free speech is lost. For generations, Americans were raised to see debate as legitimate, desirable, and essential to democratic health. They quoted Voltaire’s (apocryphal) aphorism: “I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.” Editors, publishers, satirists, and civil libertarians took to heart the dictum of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who wrote that “the principle of free thought” is meant to enshrine “not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.”

But that principle has been turned on its head. The “thought that we hate” is not tolerated but stifled. It is reviled as taboo, forbidden to be uttered. Anyone expressing it may be accused not just of giving offense, but of literally endangering those who disagree. And even if only some people lose their careers or reputations for saying something “wrong,” countless others get the chilling message.

“And so dread settles in,” writes journalist Emily Yoffe. “Challenging books go untaught. Deep conversations are not had. Friendships are not formed. Classmates and colleagues eye each other with suspicion.”

And 62 percent of Americans fear to express what they think.

The speaker in Norman Rockwell’s painting may have had something unpopular to say, but neither he nor his neighbors had any doubt that it was appropriate for him to say it. Now, such doubt is everywhere, and freedom of speech has never been more threatened.

(Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe)

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Culture, Government, Life | 2 Comments

Let’s Roll This Sovereignty Train!

Posted on 29 January 2020 by jrlclemson

Arutz Sheva, Israel National News, 29 January 2020

Jerry R Lambert

Let’s Roll This Train!
לעם ישראל

Once upon a time was a people called out.
Unique this one, let there be no doubt.

The goyim wondered, why the Jew?
It’s plain to see, He anointed you.

Led by a traveler from Ur of the Chaldeans,
No longer a polytheist, not this Aramean.

Sleep, dream, awake.  To you I bestow.
He was here and I did not know.

Look far and wide; this land is your land.
Live here forever.  Your seed will be grand.

From Dan to Beer Sheva, this land I give you,
But you must take it, as I have commanded you.

Cross the river, walk all over the land.
None will defeat you; leave them lie in the sand.

Live here forever.  I give you My word.
Deliver My message, throughout the whole world.

I am the Lord G-d Who brought you out.
No longer slaves; now you have clout.

Take these words as the master key,
To teach the goyim wherever they be.

Al tira!  Al tiri!  Al tiru!
Never fear.  I’ll be with you.

G-d of all gods, King of all kings,
Throughout the world, may His praises ring.

יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת מִי־כָמוֹךָ
חֲסִין יָהּ וֶאֱמוּנָתְךָ סְבִיבוֹתֶיךָ:

O Lord G-d Almighty, who is like You?
You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds You.

Forget Me? In Bavel, in galut shall you roam.
A lacuna.  A Talmud.  Now come back home.

A Shoah, a Shoah.  How can it be?
The world?  ‘Tis plain to see.

I love you, I love you.  The goyim not.
Don’t be surprised if they treat you like snot.

Remember My words, I promised you.
This land is yours, now stay here like glue.

I created ha’aretz; it’s Mine to give.
Sans strings attached, so there you may live.

From Dan to Beer Sheva, this land I give you.
But you must take it, as I have commanded you.

Why do you tremble?  Why hesitate?
My way is straight, so that you may skate.

The future is yours.  Al tira! Al tiru!
Mark My words.  So very true.

Believe them or not; I give you free will.
Fail the test, and you’ll be going downhill.

This land is your land, ‘tis so plain to see,
From the Jordan River clear to the sea.

Take it.  It’s yours.  Pursue the attack.
As I have told you, I have your back.

When I created you, I gave you a brain.
Now use it, please.  Let’s roll this Ribonut train!

Notes:
לעם ישראל > To the people of Israel
Al tira! Al tiri! Al tiru! > Do not fear! Masculine, feminine and plural. After Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, et al.
Bavel > Babylon
galut > exile
goyim > nations
ha’aretz > land, earth
Ribonut > Sovereignty
Shoah > Holocaust
Hebrew verse is Psalm 89:9

Posted in Culture, Israel, Life, Sovereignty, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

More Common Sense from our President

Posted on 26 January 2020 by jrlclemson

and from Paul Batura

Trump revives Mount Rushmore’s July 4 celebration — and the use of common sense
Paul J. Batura | Fox News

“President Trump’s announcement that the annual Independence Day fireworks show over Mount Rushmore will be reinstated after more than a 10-year hiatus was delivered with something of a wry twist.

“The popular event was canceled in 2009 over “environmental concerns,” including the risk of forest fires.

“In announcing the return of the patriotic pyrotechnics, the president brushed aside any ongoing fear of the holiday show starting a fiery blaze.

“What can burn?” he said bluntly. “It’s stone.”

“Thank you, Mr. President.

“Of course, the nation’s chief executive is well aware there are trees surrounding the famed granite sculpture. But rather than catastrophizing the situation, the president balanced the minuscule risk with the magnificent reward of a crowd-pleasing, picturesque celebration.

“Instead of finding an excuse, he found a solution. [JRL: emphasis mine]

“I think Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt would approve.

“In Colorado, where I live, numerous fireworks displays have been canceled over so-called environmental fears also, including a longtime New Year’s Eve show in the quaint ski town of Breckenridge.

“Haley Littleton, the village spokeswoman, said they decided to cancel the winter show to “provide consistency” with their July 4 cancellation and in order to “not disturb our wildlife.”

“Sometimes I think liberals are just allergic to fun. [JRL: emphasis mine]

“One of Trump’s draws during the 2016 election was his penchant for speaking bluntly. It enabled him, despite his massive wealth, to connect with everyday people. Behind the candor, though, was often common sense – something that’s historically been in short supply in bureaucratic Washington.

“Whether he was talking about hysterics surrounding the environment or the need for the nation to dream again, his populist appeal was framed in shirt-sleeve English. In fact, he ran as a “common-sense conservative.”

“I grew up on the south shore of Long Island, just about 12 miles from Trump’s childhood home. Over the course of the 25 years I lived there, I knew plenty of people who spoke in a similar straight-forward vein.

“Although I don’t appreciate crass language, which Trump has been known to employ, I find it refreshing when people say what they mean – and mean what they say.

“At the March for Life rally, where Trump became the first president to address the enthusiastic throng in person, the 73-year-old reiterated his strong opposition to abortion. Since running for president, he’s been criticized for speaking so bluntly about the horrors of the practice – but the killing of 3,000 innocent babies every single day is horrific to the extreme.

“In Donald Trump’s world – and in the minds of millions of others of us who feel likewise – it’s common sense to give life a chance. And with a million abortions a year and a million couples waiting to adopt, the solution seems quite obvious if still not common practice.

“My math teacher in seventh and eighth grade, Sister Maria Martin, often lamented, “The most uncommon thing is common sense.” Over 35 years later, my wise mentor just turned 90, and yet the problem has only gotten worse.

“It’s common sense that when you disincentivize anything, you’re going to see less of it, whether it’s marriage, large families, work, retirement accounts, charitable giving or entrepreneurial start-ups. You have to inspect what you expect and give people a reason to want to reach beyond their grasp.

“Yet, liberal politicians want to increase taxes on the very people who pay the vast majority of them, all while expanding entitlements, forgiving student loans and championing the lie that “free” equals “freedom.”

“From my perspective, true and ultimate freedom is independence from government and dependence upon the Maker of heaven and earth.

“When Thomas Paine wrote his famous pamphlet, “Common Sense,” on the eve of the American Revolution, he wisely observed that “a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right – and raise[s] at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”

“Sometimes I wonder if that’s why the reaction to conservative, common-sense policies is so loud. So many have grown so accustomed and comfortable to liberal ways that an alternative path looks strange.

“But don’t fret, wrote Paine, “The tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”

“President Trump has promised to try and attend the July 4 extravaganza in South Dakota’s Black Hills. No stranger to stagecraft and a producer of pomp and pageantry, the real-estate magnate knows a good party when he sees it.

“I think he’ll be most pleased to be standing in the shadow of four of our nation’s strongest purveyors of prudent wisdom, especially his fellow straight-talking former New Yorker, who was also known to speak his mind regardless of the consequences.

“There are many qualities which we need in order to gain success,” wrote Teddy Roosevelt, “but the three above all — for the lack of which no brilliancy and no genius can atone—are Courage, Honesty and Common Sense.”

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